Wellington Phoenix

23k for a pointless team at Eden Park; not bad.

Someone looks like he is parlaying his performance in Wellington into a bigger better gig back in Oz

Excellent.

The result — their biggest ever win— sees the Phoenix move five points clear of seventh-place Newcastle Jets, with the top-four now a realistic target for Mark Rudan's side.

They got the opposition coach sacked after the game too - another first (?) for the Phoenix!

@Donsteppa said in What is the point of the Phoenix?:

They got the opposition coach sacked after the game too - another first (?) for the Phoenix!

Watched his post game interview and whilst the result was an absolute shocker, I certainly didn’t expect him to get fired so soon after the match.

Rudan intends to leave, so that's the end of the good times.......

Shit result for the club but you can't blame players for leaving when they have no certainty.

Classy move by the boss, I don't think you can argue when family is involved. Hopefully the club and build on the foundations he has laid

@Hooroo From the article:

The Australian chief football writer Ray Gatt is tweeting that Krishna has signed with a club in Korea.

@Stargazer wow that is a huge loss. especially on the back of Rudan.

Hmmm what are the chances of a failed contract in Korea only to fortuitously be offered a 'life line' by Western United. Pure coincidence of course...

Could end up at Zenit... his wife's Instagram currently showing her and Roy checking out St Petersburg

You can't blame him. Out of favour and disregarded for years, then wins golden boot. Coach leaves, other clubs with better money come calling. Good on him

@canefan said in Wellington Phoenix:

You can't blame him. Out of favour and disregarded for years, then wins golden boot. Coach leaves, other clubs with better money come calling. Good on him

He's hardly been out of favour or disregarded, since Ernie at least he's always been a key starter for the team.

That said, this is the model for the a league. Guys who do well, leave. It's a shop window for just about every other league in the world.

I don't see this as a backdoor to another a league team because he's off contract. If the deal in Korea falls through and he has to return to the a league then it will be the phoenix.

Maybe he's returning to Waitakere United???

@African-Monkey love it good comment

So Rudan left the club and took 3 of our better players with him. One player has let slip that he was recruited during last season. We got tapped up

Who knows with this stuff, it's easy to look after the fact and figure that's what happened, but it may well have been people just contacting him after he left or when he made it known he was leaving.

@Godder said in Wellington Phoenix:

Who knows with this stuff, it's easy to look after the fact and figure that's what happened, but it may well have been people just contacting him after he left or when he made it known he was leaving.

It's understandable that players who have the opportunity to follow him would do so after enjoying playing for him in Wellington

This will be amazing and impressive if true

I laugh when they abuse Wellington for the crowds yet praise Auckland, 1 it’s like 3 times the population so of course there going to get a bigger turn out and 2. It’s supply and demand more people will come because there only in Auckland twice

@mikey07 said in Wellington Phoenix:

I laugh when they abuse Wellington for the crowds yet praise Auckland, 1 it’s like 3 times the population so of course there going to get a bigger turn out and 2. It’s supply and demand more people will come because there only in Auckland twice

They get pretty solid crowds in Wellington. The key to getting consistent big crowds in Auckland is to keep the number of games small to combat apathy. 2 a year seems about right

@canefan Yeah I know they do I just something on the radio Monday morning saying Wellington needs to stand up with crowd numbers which I found odd

@mikey07 said in Wellington Phoenix:

@canefan Yeah I know they do I just something on the radio Monday morning saying Wellington needs to stand up with crowd numbers which I found odd

Clearly someone who doesn't go to Phoenix games!

Who could have imagined this after the way their season started

You have to give the backroom staff credit for the quality of their recruitment and talent identification. It bodes well for the future with New Zealand now producing quality footballers.

3 Kiwis playing in The Big Blue game last night (Barbarouses, Rojas and Roux).

I have to say - I am loving reading back on this thread now. The Wellington Phoenix have now successfully developed Sarpreet Singh who has been signed for Bayern Munich. Of course, he mainly plays for the reserves but it still shows that the team can be a pathway. Cacace is probably a better player and will be off overseas himself before too long.

Meanwhile, the a-league has expanded and added an 11th team. Only problem is they average only 5k in their first season. Do we really think the Phoenix will be kicked out for poor crowds when the new teams are doing far worse? The Phoenix are actually 6/11 in the a-league this season for attendance. I think it goes to show that the Phoenix aren't taking up a spot in the league which could be filled by a successful Australian team.

The Phoenix will continue to do well if they realise what their competitive advantage is. It is young New Zealand players. Most Aussies won't have Wellington as their #1 pick and the big Aussie clubs are always going to have more money.

@hydro11 said in Wellington Phoenix:

I have to say - I am loving reading back on this thread now. The Wellington Phoenix have now successfully developed Sarpreet Singh who has been signed for Bayern Munich. Of course, he mainly plays for the reserves but it still shows that the team can be a pathway.

You get the feeling from the coach's comments that Singh is the next cab off the rank - he seems to be a big fan.

I was happy the Phoenix stood their ground about it being non-negotiable to be able to train during the 14-day isolation period.

@Bovidae said in Wellington Phoenix:

I was happy the Phoenix stood their ground about it being non-negotiable to be able to train during the 14-day isolation period.

Absolutely.

The excuses given didn't make sense to me. The NZ-based squad could have left earlier and met up with the others already in Aust. Then deal with Hooper and Dávila separately to get them directly to Sydney.

Imagine playing in the Premier League to having to sign with the comedy Phoenix.

@Hooroo said in Wellington Phoenix:

Imagine playing in the Premier League to having to sign with the comedy Phoenix.

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He better score goals for fun

@Hooroo he’s using it as his final overseas contract before he heads home.